How To Boom Mount Shotgun Microphones

Should you prefer a boom mic or a shotgun mic? Why choose if you can have both microphones? After all, every microphone can be a boom mic as long as it is mounted on a boom pole. Even the heavy and big diaphragm condenser microphone can instantly be a boom mic if it is attached to that pole. So, your shotgun microphone only needs to be attached to the pole and it will instantly be a boom mic, too.

Shotgun microphone is the common choice if you want to get rid of the unnecessary noises and get the needed sound as clear as possible. However, a shotgun microphone is not commonly attached to a boom pole. You can transform your shotgun microphone into a shotgun boom microphone and take advantage of this transformation. It’s easy, anyway. The steps below compose the things you need to do for that transformation:

Screw the shockmount into the boom pole. Take the shotgun microphone’s mount. Screw that into the boom pole end. This will serve as your shotgun boom mic’s pole. Make sure that the screw is tight enough so as to protect the microphone from falling.

Attach the mic to the mount. Carefully attach the shotgun microphone’s base through the shockmount. Make sure you attach the mic properly or else, it might produce popping sounds when it’s being moved. You can’t easily erase popping sounds produced by a poorly attached shotgun mic during video editing.

Connect the shotgun microphone to its cables. Your shotgun boom mic is now ready for use. Connect the necessary cables to this microphone and start using it.

Uses of a Boom Mounted Shotgun Mic

Usually, boom microphones are used to capture good quality audio without capturing the microphone on the scene. This will be held just above the persons talking. And with a shotgun microphone attachment, your boom mic will definitely capture more quality sound.

Boom mounted shotgun microphones are very useful for outdoor interviews. These may not totally get rid of the wind noises but at least, it can capture the voices.

These microphones can be great alternative to wireless Lavalier mic, if the person does not want to wear the latter.

Capturing Good Audio with Boom Shotgun

Properly attaching the microphone to the boom mount is already helpful for capturing a good quality audio. If not, a simple movement of the boom might produce annoying sounds.

Consider adding a filter around the microphone, too. This can be a sturdy carton or a commercially available microphone sound filter. This way, the shotgun microphone will work similar to a unidirectional mic.

In some instances, a boom mounted shotgun microphone is not the best mic to capture the perfect audio. If better mics are available, then opt to using those.

If you still end up using a boom mounted shotgun, just keep in mind that the real challenge here is to keep the mic out of the recorded video. It may sound pretty simple, but many amateur and even professional videographers and filmmakers still overlook this mistake.